In medical devices, such as patient monitors, physiological measurements may be performed in which a cable is attached directly to a patent at one end by electrode wires to perform physiological tests, such as an electrocardiogram (ECG). A common design used to perform ECG measurements, consists of a number of electrode patches connected to the patient's skin in which voltage variations are recorded over a period of time, and the resulting signals are processed, stored and interpreted. The electrical signals sensed by the electrodes are commonly amplified and filtered in order to generate useful data. Although there are systems in the prior art for monitoring the physiological condition of a patient many of these prior art systems require a patient to wear a type of body monitor which then sends signals to a computer device such as a pda or a laptop. Example prior art systems are described in US 2006/009697, US 2008/058614, U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,222 WO2002/30277, WO98/30145, US2007/0213622, U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,687, EP0059172, US2008/0058614, WO2005/018447, WO99/16351, EP1127538 and WO2000/51677.
Certain prior art devices provide a computer print out or alternatively connect to third party computers. This limits the uses of such devices. Furthermore, a number of patents describe physiological monitors including portable ECG monitors such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,894 which describes an ambulatory physiological recorder that includes multiple selective plug-and-play signal input conditioners, a microprocessor system and operating and analysing software, and a removable memory module for data storage. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,708 there is described a system for monitoring health parameters and capturing data from a subject. The system includes a cordless sensor band with sensors for measuring full waveform ECG, full waveform respiration, skin temperature, and motion, and a connector which accepts a memory card or a smart card for storage of measured data.
Prior art devices are limited because:
1. Although cordless and wireless sensor bands and other prior art devices can give a full waveform ECG they do not always give a full 12 lead diagnostic quality ECG recording as required by a qualified medic.
2. Cordless and wireless sensor bands have inherent problems regarding battery and power usage e.g. potentially, at the critical moment, the battery runs out.
3. Cordless and wireless sensor bands have inherent problems regarding bandwidth e.g. potentially, at the critical moment, there is data loss.
4. Prior art devices are not fully integrated to or with a computer or a computer network e.g. patient data management becomes problematic with data loss and/or loss of resolution and/or integrity, and/or minimal or poor computing functionality.
5. Furthermore, these devices are not fully integrated with or into a computer or a computer network and in those cases. where data is transferred onto a memory card, this can be problematic for real time remote viewing by a health care professional (HCP).
Existing ECG devices used currently by the health care system do not lend themselves to portability and are kept in the surgery or health centre. These are also usually trolley mounted devices which merely produce a printed report which has to be scanned in or faxed to a specialist, resulting in low quality reports. This type of paper system also generates a patient confidentially problem for a user, where the patient details are exposed.
There is therefore a need in the art to provide a medical apparatus which: 1) is fully integrated to or within a computer system or a computer network 2) optionally, complies with regulatory safety standards for medical equipment 3) optionally, provides clinical grade resolution recordings, 4) optionally, provides the bandwidth facility to monitor a patient in real time 5) optionally, provides the facility to monitor a patient remotely, 6) optionally, has minimal computational impact on a computer it is integrated with.
Furthermore, prior art medical data gathering devices e.g. electrocardiogram (ECG) measurement devices do not provide the functionality of a computer with a standard operating system and standard programs such as Microsoft Word®, Microsoft Outlook®. This functionality is often missed by health care professionals in their day to day activities, especially now that patient data records are being centralized or where these are being reviewed remotely. It is an object of at least one aspect of the present invention to obviate or mitigate at least one or more of the aforementioned problems. It is a further object of at least one example embodiment of the present invention to provide improved medical apparatus which is capable of measuring data relating to a physiological condition of a patient and directly transmitting collected information to a computer. It is a further object of at least one aspect of the invention to provide improved medical apparatus.